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Australian crime : facts and figures 2001
- ISBN 0 642 24253 4
- Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2002
Recorded crime
This section presents data on recorded crime as published by the ABS for the period 1993-2000. Recorded crime is based on counts of victims during the period from 1 January to 31 December each year.
Crimes known to police
Tables 2a and 2b show the number of victims recorded by police between 1993 and 2000 for the following seven categories of major offences.
Violent crimes:
- homicide (murder and manslaughter);
- assault;
- sexual assault; and
- robbery.
Property crimes:
- unlawful entry with intent (UEWI);
- motor vehicle theft; and
- other theft.
It is estimated that these crimes account for about 60% of all crime recorded by police.
| Year | Homicide | Assault | Sexual assault | Robbery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| * Data for 1993-1999 have been revised. n/a Data for this offence were not available. | ||||
| 1993 | 333 | n/a | 12 186 | 12 765 |
| 1994 | 320 | n/a | 12 722 | 13 967 |
| 1995 | 356 | 101 710 | 13 099 | 14 564 |
| 1996 | 350 | 114 156 | 14 542 | 16 372 |
| 1997 | 360 | 124 500 | 14 353 | 21 305 |
| 1998 | 332 | 130 903 | 14 336 | 23 801 |
| 1999 | 386 | 134 271 | 14 104 | 22 606 |
| 2000 | 346 | 141 124 | 15 630 | 23 314 |
- Assault was the most commonly recorded violent crime in 2000, accounting for 78% of violent crime victims. Between 1995 and 2000, the number of assaults increased by 39%.
- The number of robbery offences almost doubled between 1993 and 2000, whereas the number of sexual assaults increased by 28%. The number of homicides has remained stable over this period.
| Year | Unlawful entry with intent | Motor vehicle theft | Other theft |
|---|---|---|---|
| * Data for 1993-1999 have been revised. n/a Data for these offences were not available. | |||
| 1993 | 381 783 | 112 472 | n/a |
| 1994 | 379 505 | 119 469 | n/a |
| 1995 | 385 162 | 127 094 | 490 518 |
| 1996 | 402 079 | 122 914 | 519 762 |
| 1997 | 421 569 | 130 138 | 530 881 |
| 1998 | 434 376 | 131 587 | 563 482 |
| 1999 | 415 735 | 129 552 | 612 559 |
| 2000 | 436 865 | 139 094 | 674 813 |
- In 2000, 'other theft' (which includes offences such as pickpocketing, bag-snatching and shoplifting) was the most commonly recorded property crime, accounting for 54% of property crime victims. Since 1995, the number of victims of 'other theft' has increased by 38%.
- Between 1993 and 2000, the number of victims of UEWI and motor vehicle theft increased by 14% and 24% respectively.
- Property offences accounted for 87% of the seven major crimes in 2000, a trend that has remained stable since 1995.
Figure 13 : Percentage change in crimes recorded by police, 1999 compared to 1998, 2000 compared to 1999
- There was an increase across all offences in 2000 compared to 1999, except for homicide.
- This contrasts with 1999 when, compared to 1998, there were declines for the offences of sexual assault, robbery, unlawful entry with intent and motor vehicle theft, but an increase for homicide.
- Sexual assault and 'other theft' recorded the largest increase between 1999 and 2000, the former by 11% and the latter by 10%.
- There was a 10% decline in the number of homicides. In 2000 there were 346 homicides compared to 386 in 1999.
Violent crime
Violent crime comprises homicide, assault, sexual assault and robbery.
Figure 14 : Violent crimes recorded by police, rate per 100 000 persons, 1993-2000
- The rate of assault has increased steadily since 1995.
- The rate of robbery remained relatively constant between 1993 and 1996 before increasing significantly in 1997 and peaking in 1998. It has remained stable since then.
- Rates of homicide and sexual assault have remained relatively stable since 1993. The number of homicides has fluctuated, while the number of sexual assaults has increased by an average 4% per year.
Property crime
Property crime comprises unlawful entry with intent, motor vehicle theft and other theft.
Figure 15 : Property crimes recorded by police, rate per 100 000 persons, 1993-2000
- Since 1995, 'other theft' has increased by 7% each year.
- The rate of unlawful entry with intent recovered its upward trend in 2000 after having recorded a decline in 1999 relative to 1998.
- The rate of motor vehicle theft has remained stable since 1993.
Location of crime
The ABS classifies crime locations according to the function of the site where a criminal incident occurred, as follows:
- residential location (e.g. houses, garages/carports, motels and hostels);
- community location (e.g. car parks, transport facilities, street/footpaths and schools); and
- other location (e.g. retail premises, recreational facilities, government offices and warehousing/storage).
Table 3 and Table 4 list the number of offences that occurred within each type of location.
| Location | Homicide | Assault | Sexual assault | Robbery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| * Includes non-private dwellings, dwellings not further defined, and land and other structures (e.g. driveways) which lie within the curtilage of a residential location. | ||||
| Residential | ||||
| Private dwelling | 156 | 48 944 | 9 047 | 1 214 |
| Other residential* | 51 | 7 825 | 934 | 325 |
| Community | ||||
| Street/footpath | 44 | 32 554 | 1 296 | 8 655 |
| Other community | 45 | 20 088 | 2 027 | 4 177 |
| Other | ||||
| Retail | 11 | 12 644 | 473 | 6 189 |
| Recreational | 17 | 12 605 | 801 | 1 343 |
| Other location | 10 | 2 805 | 272 | 807 |
| Location | Unlawful entry with intent | Motor vehicle theft | Other theft |
|---|---|---|---|
| * Includes non-private dwellings, dwellings not further defined, and land and other structures (e.g. driveways) that lie within the curtilage of a residential location. | |||
| n/a National data not available. | |||
| Residential | |||
| Private dwelling | 241 613 | n/a | 57 807 |
| Other residential* | 41 596 | 25 691 | 104 631 |
| Community | |||
| Street/footpath | 0 | 55 142 | 118 881 |
| Other community | 40 094 | 27 500 | 115 500 |
| Other | |||
| Retail | 52 504 | 18 114 | 161 816 |
| Recreational | 11 561 | 2 951 | 36 467 |
| Other location | 40 595 | 3 667 | 39 872 |
Figure 16 : Violent crimes, type of location, 2000
Figure 17 : Property crimes, type of location, 2000
- Thirty-nine per cent of violent and property offences occurred in residential locations, primarily private dwellings.
- The crimes most likely to occur in a private dwelling were sexual assault (61%), homicide (47%), assault (36%) and unlawful entry with intent (56%).
- Violent crimes occurred more frequently in a community location (39%) compared to property crimes (30%). Twenty-four per cent of violent crimes occurred on a street/footpath compared to 15% of property crimes.
- Motor vehicle theft (62%), robbery (57%), assault (38%) and other theft (37%) were the offences most likely to be committed in a community location.
- Other locations (including retail and recreational locations) accounted for 22% of violent crimes and 31% of property crimes.
- In particular, 11% of violent crimes and 20% of property crimes occurred in retail locations.
- About one-quarter of robbery offences and other theft offences occurred in a retail location in 2000.
Source: Reference 6.